Unfortunately, our 10-night stay at the President was very disappointing and, with hindsight, I wish we had paid more attention to the reviews highlighting the various noise issues. We stay at a lot...
Unfortunately, our 10-night stay at the President was very disappointing and, with hindsight, I wish we had paid more attention to the reviews highlighting the various noise issues. We stay at a lot of hotels, and I can???t remember the last time we stayed in a room with such paper-thin walls. Certainly, noise (from a number of different sources) was a massive issue throughout our entire stay. The whole experience put a real downer on the holiday, and at the end of the stay we were glad to get back to the peace and quiet of our own home. That???s the last thing you want to say about a holiday especially when you???ve forked out a good deal of money for it but sadly, that???s how it was. More about the noise issues below.
It???s such a big shame as the hotel has many good points. We paid extra for a room facing the sea (room 328) and the views from the room and its spacious balcony were amongst the best we???ve ever had. From the hotel???s elevated position high on a cliff, it???s a glorious sight looking down over the bay of Naples and the town of Sorrento. The views from the pool area and the manicured gardens were just as good and, if anything, the hotel photos don???t do it justice. The hotel???s outside space is very tranquil and relaxing and it???s nice to have that bit of separation from the hectic hustle and bustle of Sorrento itself. Breakfast in the restaurant area was lovely with friendly, attentive staff and more fantastic views of the ferry boats coming and going from Sorrento harbour. Overall, the hotel has a lovely fresh feeling to it. Full breakfast is served from 7am but there is a limited self-service option between 6am and 7am which is useful if you???re off on an early morning tour or have a flight to catch.
The distance from the hotel to the centre of Sorrento might not suit everyone but we didn???t find it an issue. We either walked or used the hotel???s shuttle bus.
It took us about 20-minutes to walk from the hotel to the Esso garage which marks the start of the main, straight pedestrianised road through the centre of Sorrento where many of the shops and restaurants are located. It???s a further 10-minute walk along that road to get to Piazza Tasso, the main square in Sorrento. If you???re heading to the port and the ferries (eg to Capri) you can either take the stairs at Piazza Tasso (a further 7 or so minutes). Alternatively, you can head to Villa Comunale where you can use either the slope/steps or the lift/elevator (small charge and only operates at certain times).
Initially, we used google maps to find the walking route into town. Head towards the main entrance where the hotel driveway meets the main road, and on your right, just before the road, you???ll see a lane. You'll be walking down this sloping cobbled lane for the first 15 minutes or so with steps at various points to cut off some of the winding corners. There is some traffic on the lane, but it is light. Mopeds use it as a cut through between two main roads and you occasionally come across a very small car or van. Keep your wits about you as some mopeds go very fast although, fortunately, it???s easy to hear them coming. Larger vehicles would find it impossible to use the lane. Watch out for the cobbles when it???s been raining as they can become slippery in places. Also, much of the lane is unlit so bear this in mind on darker mornings/evenings eg if you have an early morning tour to get to. Some of the main roads in Sorrento have no pavement and you see pedestrians walking in the road with heavy traffic passing close by. Fortunately, none of the walking route is like that. If you???re able to, then it???s well worth trying the downhill walk from the hotel to the town at least once. If nothing else, it gives you a different perspective of the immediate area as you pass by olive groves and little houses. The walk feels longer the first time, but it does get shorter the more you do it! Some reviews say that you have to walk on the main road in order to get into the town but that isn???t the case if you use the lane. One of the first things we did was to confirm the walking route and to see how long it took. We didn???t want to take the risk of turning up late for any of our tours.
The first shuttle bus of the day leaves the hotel at 8.30am with the next ones leaving at 9.30am, 10.30am etc. Bear this in mind if you have some early morning tours to get to. Some of our tours left from Piazza Tasso far earlier than 8.30am so the shuttle bus wasn???t an option. The service was prompt and reliable, but the vehicle does need maintenance. There was evidently an issue with the rear suspension (we could clearly see the rear wheels weren???t sitting correctly) and it was an uncomfortably harsh ride sitting at the back.
Now for the hotel's bad points. Sadly, they totally negated its good points and really soured our holiday.
When we booked, we requested a quiet room. We reiterated that request at check in and the lady at the desk confirmed we had indeed been allocated a quiet room. My goodness, if the room we were given was a quiet one then I hate to think what a normal or a noisy room would be like!!!!
Noise issues became apparent as soon as we entered our room for the first time. Two cleaners were talking in the corridor immediately outside the room which was perfectly fine. However, when we shut the door, we could still clearly hear them as if the door had been left wide open. The door was letting all the noise in, rather than blocking most of it out. Noise continued to filter in from the corridor all through our stay. The corridor floor was composed of ceramic tiles which amplified the footsteps of anyone walking past. If that person was talking, then we could clearly hear their voice. Additionally, the cleaning trolleys sounded like trains whenever they rattled along the corridor. So much for the insulating properties of the door. If the corridor had been carpeted, then some of that noise may have been absorbed but it wasn???t.
The floor of our room had the same ceramic tiles found in the corridor. They look lovely but are totally impractical as far as noise is concerned. There were three heavy chairs in the room, one at the desk and two by a small table. That combination of wood and tile is simply asking for trouble. Whenever anyone in the neighbouring rooms moved their chairs, we could hear a very loud scraping noise that came straight through the walls and when I say loud, I really do mean loud!!!! Not the sort of thing you want to hear when you???ve nodded off to sleep and its approaching midnight. On one hand, our neighbours were being extremely inconsiderate. On the other hand, they could have been elderly and unable to lift those heavy chairs.
On the day we arrived at the hotel we???d got up at 1am to catch our outbound flight. As we were pretty exhausted, we headed for bed around 7pm. It???s no exaggeration to say that we were woken up at least 10 times that first night either by noise from the corridor, voices coming through the wall from the neighbouring bedrooms or by scraping chairs. It wasn???t good and there was little let up throughout our entire 10-night stay.
The next night things continued in the same noisy vain. At one point we could even hear snoring coming from the room next door which is absolutely ridiculous. How on earth can the sound of snoring get through a bedroom wall? It???s another illustration of just how poor the sound insulation actually is. Noise also filtered in from a neighbouring balcony.
When on holiday, I expect the room to be the place you can retreat to for a bit of relaxation, some peace and some quiet. At this hotel, the rooms are anything but that and all the while you are left wondering where the next bit of noise is going to come from. One afternoon I was soaking in the bath for an hour with the bathroom door shut. I don???t think two minutes went by without hearing some sort of thud, boom or other noise. On the shuttle bus, we spoke to a couple who we???d never spoken to before. As soon as I mentioned that our room was noisy, they immediately said, ???ah, the scraping chairs???. Clearly, we were not the only ones suffering from noise issues.
We know that our neighbours in room 330 departed after our third night to be replaced by new guests. This made absolutely no difference to the noise levels which goes to show that it???s the sound insulation that???s at fault rather than the occupants. I resorted to wearing ear plugs at night, something I deeply resented given the amount of money we???d paid for the room. However, the ear plugs made absolutely no difference on the last two nights which were horrendous.
We found noise levels to be at their worst between 10:30pm and midnight when guests returned from a night out or their evening meal. It wasn???t just one scrape of a chair, it would be a scrape every few minutes. This could go on for 20 or 30 minutes. At one point we heard someone in a neighbouring room shout out ???Oi!!!!??? at the top of their voice. They were obviously very irritated by the scraping, just as we were.
It takes an awful lot for us to complain face-to-face at the reception desk. We are very reluctant to complain or make a fuss and so we will put up with a lot of things. However, the noise levels went way beyond what was acceptable and so we were forced to speak to the reception desk on four separate occasions.
When things are going well it can be difficult to gauge just how good or poor a reception desk actually is. It???s when things aren???t going well that the staff earn their money and show just how competent (or not) they really are.
We were left extremely unimpressed and frustrated by the desk staff. I spoke to a gentleman at the desk and asked if the rooms suffered from noise issues. He was coy and wouldn???t give a direct answer. I then explained our noise issues in detail. No apology was forthcoming and there was no sense of sympathy whatsoever. We were told that it wouldn???t be possible for us to be moved either that day or later (even though we were staying 10 nights). He added that the other sea view rooms would likely not be any better in terms of noise levels and moving to a lower grade room on the other side of the hotel wouldn???t be feasible as they suffered from a different kind of noise issue. We were told the date when the neighbouring occupants would be vacating, and the ???solution??? was basically for us to just put up with it. There was no attempt to find a compromise and no gesture of good will. The desk staff were simply wiping their hands of the problem. I left the desk feeling very awkward about having raised the issue in the first place. When things didn???t improve, we had further conversations with the desk, but it was all a complete waste of time.
I wonder whether the desk get so many noise complaints they are just fed up with it.
On our last day we spoke to a lady at the desk and asked if we could give feedback to the manager. She said he wasn???t available and seemed to deny there was any noise issue at all which contradicted what her colleague had previously told us.
If there are noise issues why don???t the hotel management tackle them head on instead of side-stepping them? That???s what any competent management would set about doing. If there are noise issues with scraping chairs, then why aren???t felt pads fitted to the base of each chair leg to soften the sound? It???s a very cheap solution and hardly rocket science. It???s as if the management don???t want to know. Some staff are denying there is a noise issue while others aren???t. Why has this inconsistency in communication been allowed? The management could easily have gone into room 228 and 230 when they were being made up to do some tests of their own. It???s all very poor.
One final point. For us, a big selling point for the hotel was the spa/sauna/steam room and it???s another key reason why we chose to stay at the hotel. Usually, a spa is a great way of relaxing after a day???s touring prior to heading off to dinner. Firstly, be aware of the price. It???s 20 euros for a timed 2-hour session. I???m not talking about a massage, just the use of the facilities. This is really steep compared with other hotels and I can???t remember staying in another hotel that enforces a time limit like that. Secondly, only a tiny number of people are allowed in at any one time meaning that entry has to be booked in advance, ideally a day ahead to be sure. This is totally impractical when you simply want to pop in for 45-minutes on an ad-hoc basis and are unsure exactly what your timings for the day will be. Needless to say, the price and the usage restrictions came as a nasty surprise. It???s not the flexible spa experience we???re used to at other hotels.
Despite the good features of the hotel, we would not stay there again because of all the noise issues. It???s such a shame that the hotel management aren???t more pro-active and engaging.
We plan to follow this review up with a complaint as the stay was not as it should have been.
Above all, I hope this review has been useful for anyone planning to stay at the hotel. Hopefully it will help you make your own mind up as to what is important and what isn???t.
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Based on 2121 traveller reviews
88% of travellers recommended this hotel
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